


qmi | airports

by plincess_cho (ai_hao)



Series: The N Parallel Universes of QMi [5]
Category: Super Junior
Genre: Author: Ai, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-19 00:55:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3590229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_hao/pseuds/plincess_cho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyuhyun is off to visit a friend, but his flight is delayed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	qmi | airports

Kyuhyun checks his phone for the billionth time in the past two minutes. Thankfully, the Shanghai Pudong International Airport has a fair amount of outlets, and he’s camped out on the floor next to one. It’s been about an hour and his backside is getting rather sore, but he doesn’t want to give up the outlet, just in case he’s stuck here for longer than is foreseeable.

But the airline app on his phone says the same thing: _Flight Delayed - 3 hours._ He refreshes and refreshes but nothing changes. He’s now tired and grumpy and very very ready to _not_ be in this airport. If he had a confirmed seat on the earlier flight, he would go wander around and explore the airport. The Shanghai Pudong International Airport is huge and theoretically, there’s a lot to keep a very weary traveler occupied on his layover. But he’s trying to get on standby for this flight and can’t chance leaving in case a seat opens up when he’s not there.

So instead, he readjusts himself so his butt is a little more comfortable (imagine if Hyukjae were stuck here - the kid had absolutely no padding back there and this floor is pretty hard). 

His phone lights up and he checks it expectantly.

 _Have they said anything else about the flight?_ the text message reads.

 _No,_ Kyuhyun types back. _Still delayed._

_What about your standby flight? Do you have a seat yet?_

_Negative on that too. It’s not looking good._ Kyuhyun heaves a big sigh. If he were at home, a delayed flight would be troublesome, but not the worst thing in the world. He could just go home and come back whenever the time was right. But as it turns out, Kyuhyun is in a completely different country and all of the Chinese he _has_ learned seems completely useless now unless he needs to flirt with the flight attendants. He hopes they’ll just give him a seat and let him on the plane, because he’s really too tired to be charming and chatty.

*

Twenty minutes later and Kyuhyun decides the outlet isn’t worth it anymore. He stands up to stretch and realizes just how sore he is. He takes a few exploratory steps and finds he can still walk, but maybe not for long. He hefts his backpack onto his back and starts pacing around the waiting area. There are a lot of other passengers in his same predicament, and Kyuhyun knows he should feel more sympathetic towards them. But right now he wants one passenger to decide that they really don’t want to fly to Wuhan City after all and would the customer service representatives at the desk please give their seat to the tired Korean boy wearing a path in the floor? He tries to telepathically push thoughts into the minds of those seated in the waiting area, but so far it hasn’t worked.

Kyuhyun checks his phone again. His phone decides to be uncooperative and decides that right now is the perfect time to reset itself. Kyuhyun grumbles and shoves the damn thing back into his pocket and continues pacing.

Kyuhyun then scans the waiting area for any cute girls, just on the off chance his flight was delayed so that he could find his destiny in the airport terminal. It isn’t the subway like he had envisioned, but airplanes are still a form of transportation, right? And if it’s destiny, it’s destiny, not matter what method of transport it’s on.

Unfortunately, everyone on his flight is either old, male, or not his type. He grumbles to himself. _No destiny today._

Kyuhyun really wants to go up to the airline counter and explain that he really needs to get to Wuhan City and he needs to get there tonight. “My best friend is waiting for me,” he’ll explain. “We haven’t seen each other in a very long time and we’ve been looking forward to this for months. You need to get me on this flight.”

Belatedly, Kyuhyun wonders if he should have just taken the train. It’s not a terribly long train ride, but he doesn’t want to go through the trouble of getting out of the airport, finding the train station, selecting the appropriate train, and then buying a ticket. His Chinese is so not up for that; he plans to spend his time in China with fluent Mandarin-speaking friends for a reason. And if his calculations are correct, the later flight will still get him in before the train will.

If it ever takes off that is.

Kyuhyun finds a recently vacated seat and claims it before someone else can. His shoulders are killing him and he swears to never bring a heavy backpack to the airport again. It’s probably his computer that’s weighing it down, and he _has_ to bring that but everything else is unnecessary. Like who needs extra socks? He probably should keep all of the souvenirs he brought for his hosts though. It would be rude to show up for an overnight stay without anything.

His phone is now cooperating and he pulls up his messaging app. 

_Still stuck. I’ll text you when I take off. If I take off._

_Don’t talk like that!_ says the reply. _You’ll get to Wuhan City tonight - don’t worry :)_

But Kyuhyun is worried. What if he doesn’t?

The next text comes before he can respond. _I can’t wait to see you  ^^ My mom made a ton of food so don’t eat too much junk in the airport!!!_

Kyuhyun grins. _I can’t wait to see you either. Mainly because of the food._

_> :( You’re mean. I’m not picking you up after all._

_Fine. I’m going to start looking for flights back to Seoul then._

_Nooooooooo I didn’t mean it! I miss you come see meeeeeeeeeee D:_

Kyuhyun smiles and texts back, _I’ll be there as soon as I can. Sorry for the delay._

*

Kyuhyun doesn’t get on the flight. He spends all that time in the waiting area and in the end, the flight is still completely booked with no room for him. He trudges off to the gate for his actual flight (which is rudely located in a completely different concourse) and his stomach grumbles _loudly_. The walkway between concourses is lined with restaurant after restaurant that are probably all overpriced and not terribly good, but Kyuhyun doesn’t care. He hasn’t eaten all day in anticipation for the feast waiting for him in Wuhan City, but he doesn’t know how much longer he can hold out.

He decides that a few granola bars will stave off his appetite for now. They don’t sound nearly as good as the ramen advertised next to the convenience store, but he reminds himself of the dinner he’s expecting tonight. If he ever gets to Wuhan City that is. Kyuhyun hands over an egregious amount of money for three measly granola bars. He rips one open as he walks only to realize that instead of being full of chocolate chips like he thought, those brown globs in the granola are raisins.

Kyuhyun is starting to hate everything.

He is angry that his flight is delayed. He hates that he couldn’t get on the earlier flight. He is angry at the Shanghai airport for being so damn large. He is angry at the Chinese transportation system for being troublesome. He is angry at all of the passengers who took his seat. He is angry at the overpriced food in the airport terminal whose prices can only be described as usury. He is angry at his shoes for not being nearly comfortable enough. He is angry at Shanghai. He is angry at China. But most importantly, he is angry that he’s delayed from getting to Wuhan to see his very best friend in the entire world.

Kyuhyun is starting to get irrational. What if none of these flights to Wuhan City actually leave and what if he has to cancel his entire trip? What if he really does have to find the next flight back to Seoul? Why didn’t they decide to meet each other in Shanghai instead of him hiking all the way out to Wuhan by himself? 

It’s somewhat comforting to know that there’s someone waiting for him on the other end of this flight. Landing in the Shanghai airport was a little sad: a bunch of unfamiliar faces, a language he doesn’t understand, and a long wait time between landing in Shanghai and taking off for Wuhan. He hopes there’s nothing embarrassing waiting for him like a giant sign or a bunch of screams or anything like that. 

He thinks back to the last time they met up. They had met in South Korea instead and Kyuhyun had collected him at the airport before taking him home. By the end of the trip, they both decided that maybe they could get an apartment in Seoul and quit their jobs to open some sort of video game cafe. He’d be in charge of the video games, of course. He could hardly make ramen. 

What Kyuhyun mainly remembers is having to say goodbye in the airport, not knowing when they would see each other again. It was a weird feeling: he didn’t think he had ever missed someone so badly. As he waved goodbye and drove away, it took all of his willpower not to turn around and get on the flight to Shanghai with him. 

*

Thirty minutes until his flight boards, and Kyuhyun decides he never wants to be in an airport ever again. He’s sick of waiting and traveling and goodbyes. Maybe he’ll take the train from Wuhan City to Shanghai on the way back, or he’ll just stay in Wuhan forever. He can learn Chinese, right? Not that he’s done a splendid job up until this point but total immersion has been proven as the best way to learn a language. 

Anything but an airplane.

Finally, the flight attendants call to start the boarding process. He checks his ticket: boarding group three. It’s not the worst boarding group (that would be boarding group five) but it’s not the best either. Kyuhyun doesn’t care. As long as he gets on the plane, he doesn’t care where he sits or when he boards, he just wants to be wheels down in Wuhan City.

Boarding groups one and two take their time in boarding and _finally_ they call his boarding class. Kyuhyun rushes to get in line with everyone else and clutches his ticket in his hand.

 _Boarding now._  

 _See you sooooooon ^^_  

*

When Kyuhyun finally gets up to the gate, he fumbles with his boarding pass so badly that the gate attendant is kind enough to take it out of his hands and scan it for him. He offers her a grateful smile before hurrying onto the plane. He finds his seat (15C, in the aisle) and arranges his things before sitting down. He heaved a sigh of relief and texts his friend.

_On the plane. See you soon._

_Text me when you land!!!!! Tell the pilot to fly safely because you are precious cargo!!!! ^^_ comes the reply.

Kyuhyun pretends he's not smiling.

*

The flight touches down in Wuhan and Kyuhyun practically bolts off the plane. He's never been to this airport and in his hurry, runs in the complete opposite direction of the baggage claim. He spins on his heel, nearly taking out an ahjumma behind him, and weaves through the crowd of travelers. He rushes down the escalator because the moving stairs aren't moving fast enough. He mutters apologies as he pushes past people until he runs out of the secured area into the throng of people waiting for their travelers to come home.

He's not hard to spot: at 187 cm he's hard to miss and the aura of fabulous is unmistakeable. Kyuhyun knows that he'll be embarrassed later, but for now he barrels through the crowd and throws himself into a pair of waiting arms.

"Welcome to Wuhan, Kuixian!"

*

(Zhou Mi loops his arm through his and doesn't let go until they're at his house and Kyuhyun is hugging his mother. He's talking a million miles an hour about all of the things he wants to show Kyuhyun and all of the things he has planned for them to do. Kyuhyun just rests against Zhou Mi and lets the familiar sound of his voice welcome him home.)

 

**Author's Note:**

> Note One: I wrote this while stuck in the Chicago O’Hare International Airport after my first flight got cancelled and I had to stay overnight. It wasn’t the most enjoyable experience and would’ve been infinitely better with a buddy.
> 
> Note Two: Also they probably don't have escalators in Wuhan. After spending far too long dragging our suitcases around the city of Shanghai (while feeling super sick and dehydrated might I add), we realized that despite being a huge "globalized" city, Shanghai's public transportation system doesn't feel the need for escalators. Try lugging your almost 50 pound suitcases up and down a ton of stairs. Not. Fun.


End file.
